EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TechAmerica Foundation's much anticipated report "Demystifying Big Data: A Practical Guide To Transforming The Business of Government," which was released today, gives the federal government a comprehensive roadmap to using "Big Data" to better serve Americans.

"This report heralds the understanding that data is as important to the U.S. economy as agricultural products and capital goods," said Bill Perlowitz, vice president and chief technology officer of Wyle's Science, Technology, and Engineering Group. He served as a vice-chair of TechAmerica's Big Data commission, comprised of experts from industry and academia, which wrote the report.

"It provides the industry-tested roadmap to improve government performance while stimulating billions of dollars of economic activity. Within five years, the United States will create more digital content than we have created since the beginning of human record keeping."

This comprehensive and first-of-its-kind Big Data report defines key terms; explains the underlying technology in simple terms; and identifies best practices and lessons learned from early efforts. The report also offers a set of policy recommendations and practical steps agencies can take to get started on Big Data initiatives.

Key policy recommendations from the report include: Improve decision-making and operational intelligence; eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse; and innovate new business models and stakeholder services.

"Wyle is positioned perfectly to assist government agencies and industry customers in implementing these recommendations," said Perlowitz.

"Government agencies should think about Big Data not as an information technology solution to solve reporting and analytical information challenges, but rather as a strategic asset that can be used to achieve better mission outcomes, and conceptualized in the strategic planning, enterprise architecture, and human capital of the agency. Specific examples include healthcare quality and efficiency, cyber security, and similar activities."

He said key recommendations in the report in getting started are: Understand the "Art of the Possible" -- Explore the case studies contained in this report, posted on the TechAmerica Foundation website (http://www.techamericafoundation.org/), and otherwise in the public domain to find inspiration and practical examples; and identify two to four key business or mission requirements that Big Data can address for your agency, and define and develop underpinning use cases that would create value for both the agency and the public.

The report also highlights some significant lessons learned, including:

"Success in capturing the transformation lies in leveraging the skills and experiences of our business and mission leaders, rather than creating a universal Big Data architecture. It lies in understanding a specific agency's critical business imperatives and requirements, developing the right questions to ask, understanding the art of the possible, and taking initial steps focused on serving a set of clearly defined use cases."

"Successful Big Data initiatives commonly start with a specific and narrowly defined business or mission requirement, versus a plan to deploy a new and universal technical platform to support perceived future requirements. This implies not a "build it and they will come" transformative undertaking, but rather a "fit for purpose approach."

"Once an initial set of business requirements have been identified and defined, the leaders of successful initiatives assess the technical requirements, identify gaps in their current capabilities, and then plan the investments to close those gaps."

Wyle, a privately held company, is a leading provider of high tech aerospace engineering and information technology services to the federal government on long-term outsourcing contracts. The company also provides test and evaluation of aircraft, weapon systems, networks, and other government assets; and other engineering services to the aerospace, defense, and nuclear power industries. For decades, Wyle has provided medical services to NASA's astronaut corps during space flights.